Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia and the independent states of Iran and Turkey. The capital of the republic was Yerevan, and it contained 37 districts (raions). Other major cities in the Armenian SSR included Leninakan, Kirovakan, Hrazdan, Ejmiatsin, and Kapan. The republic was governed by Communist Party of Armenia, a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Soviet Armenia was established on 29 November 1920, with the Sovietisation of the short-lived First Republic of Armenia. Consequently, historians refer to it as the Second Republic of Armenia. It became part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR) along with neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan, which comprised one of the four founding republics of the Soviet Union. When the TSFSR was dissolved in 1936, Armenia became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union.

As part of the Soviet Union, Armenia experienced stabilization and security from hostile neighbors as well notable economic, cultural, and educational advancements. During its 71 year history, the republic was transformed from a largely agricultural hinterland to an important industrial production center, while its population almost quadrupled from around 880,000 in 1926 to 3.3 million in 1989 due to natural growth and large-scale influx of Armenian genocide survivors and their descendants.

Soviet Armenia flourished during Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy, but suffered during the Great Purge of Joseph Stalin. The republic contributed significantly to the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War and experienced a period of liberalization under Nikita Khrushchev's Thaw. Following the Brezhnev era, Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost and perestroika saw the rise of the Karabakh movement in 1988. Local authorities declared state sovereignty on 23 August 1990 and boycotted the March 1991 referendum on the New Union Treaty. An independence referendum held on 21 September 1991 was supported by more than 99% of voters. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991, the Armenian SSR ceased to exist, and Armenia became an independent state.

Following the Sovietization of Armenia, the republic became officially known as the Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia. After the dissolution of the TSFSR in 1936, the name was changed to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was used until 1991.

In Armenian, the official name had been variously changed since the creation of the ArSSR. It was initially "Hayastani Socʼialistakan Xorhrdayin Hanrapetutʼyun" (Հայաստանի Սոցիալիստական Խորհրդային Հանրապետություն, Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia). The second name, in accordance to the then latest Soviet Constitution, was adopted on 5 December 1936 as Haykakan Xorhrdayin Socʻialistakan Hanrapetutʻyun (Հայկական խորհրդային Սոցիալիստական Հանրապետություն, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic), with the term haykakan (հայկական, "Armenian") replacing Hayastani (Հայաստան, "Armenia"), and transposing the second (սոցիալիստական, socialist) and third (Խորհրդային, soviet) words. It was ratified by the ninth All-Armenian Extraordinary Congress of Soviets on 23 March 1937.

Thereafter, direct borrowings of soviet (սովետական, sovetakan) and republic (ռեսպուբլիկա, ṙespublika) were included in the formal name on 22 August 1940, in accordance with a regulation approved by the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment of the Armenian SSR. In 1966, the original term for republic was restored.

On 25 June 1989, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR passed the bill that constitutionally restored the 1936 name, as well as in other legislative acts. After declaring the sovereign polity, the Supreme Council adopted the Declaration of Independence in which the formal name was declared Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Republic of Armenia) on 23 August 1990.